The man who comes home to a freshly cooked meal on the table and wakes up to a pile of perfectly iro...
The man who comes home to a freshly cooked meal on the table and wakes up to a pile of perfectly ironed shirts prepared for him by his loyal and doting wife, should stop taking this treatment for granted.
German husbands who do not do their fair share of housework may soon be punished, not only by their long- suffering wives, but also by the law.
The move, which is being promoted by the Green Party, aims to amend citizens' law so that household duties are the responsibility of both partners, not just the female. A similar law is also being proposed in Austria.
In Germany at present, women
carry out on average 16 hours more housework a week than men, with a third saying they do all the household chores.
The British man, however, should not be too smug. This could after all be the start of a growing trend as Britain becomes ever closer to Europe.
Men climb on the psychiatrist's couch
Men certainly seem to have a raw deal at the moment. Not only may they be forced to do the housework, but recent reports have also suggested that they are much less healthy than women.
Work life too is poor and the pressure to work long hours means few men
spend sufficient time with their
children with some feeling
threatened by the success of female colleagues.
In response a number of employers are sending their male employees on self-help courses to increase male assertiveness. One course aims to encourage good communication skills, in an age when the traditional female skills such as teamwork and the ability to listen are becoming increasingly essential.
You may be sceptical about the benefits of self-help for men, but its developers claim it has transformed the lives of a number of attendees.
One, a technician at a car plant worked on his confidence problem and is now a successful salesman. Another, a
dustman, realised his lifelong dream of travelling to the Serengeti, while a
council worker set up a charity donating second hand football boots to developing countries.
School children receive
lessons in stress
As the UK finds itself in the throes of exam season, it is not only men who are suffering from stress.
Children at one school in the Midlands are now receiving massages to help them cope. The
20-minute session in stress release management involves the children closing their eyes and imagining themselves on a beach while the stress release manager administers an Indian head, neck and shoulder massage. After this they learn how to massage each other.
Whatever happened to a good old stress-relieving run around the playground?
It's official dieting
makes you fat
Its official. Britain is now fatter than ever before. According to the Department of Health, 17% of men and 20% of women are clinically obese compared with 6% of men and 8% of women back in 1980. Ironically, according to the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), dieting seems to have been part of the problem.
Far too many of us are putting our faith in miracle cures and crash diets before getting married or facing the masses half naked on the beach, resulting in upset digestive systems and a sluggish metabolism. Instead the BNF says we should be looking to eat more healthily and do more exercise. Fat chance of that.
Oh, what a lovely pair
Big, apparently, is no longer beautiful or at least not in melon sales. One of Britain's largest supermarkets has been asking suppliers for smaller melons after research suggested that female buyers subconsciously compared the melons they were buying to their bust size.
Apparently the larger DD cup sized melons are going out of favour, with suppliers being asked for the more manageable C cup melon, as smaller busts make a comeback in the fashion stakes.
Unsurprisingly, the store was bemused by this humorous link and set to investigate it further through market research. 70% of women thought it was likely that breast size was at the back of their minds when selecting a melon, 50% of whom actually admitted to actively thinking about breasts when buying the fruit.
Results from an all male group showed that they too were happier with a smaller fruit. No doubt their results would have been a little different had the focus been on bananas.
Deflating news for those who go au naturel
Further evidence that the buxom bust is on its way out has been seen in the States with hundreds of women, including Pamela Anderson, having their silicone implants removed. Health scares and fashion are encouraging many women to deflate and return to how nature intended.
The timing of this trend has been unfortunate, however. Scientific research has revealed that natural may not be best after all and that silicone implants may actually help to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
It looks like it's back to the operating table once again, ladies.
